Frankfurt - Leading European clubs will resist any attempts to make the Olympic football tournament part of the official FIFA calendar, Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has said.
Rummenigge, who is chairman of the European Club Association (ECA) was quoted Wednesday by Germany's Sport Bild weekly, as saying he would also welcome further age restrictions for the tournament.
"There will be a meeting with FIFA president Joseph Blatter," he said.
The ECA, which has succeeded the G14 organization of Europe's most powerful clubs, now wants clarification on the Olympics issue following a number of disputes with clubs on the release of players for the Beijing Games.
Blatter said in Beijing he would like to see the Olympic tournament remain as an under-23 competition but be officially made a part of the international calendar of football's world organizing body, thus compelling clubs to release players.
But Rummenigge said the clubs were paying players who were often away with their national teams, and it would be wrong to "further bloat the calendar".
The ECA also wants the age limit for the tournament reduced to 19, in line with a suggestion by UEFA president Michel Platini.
"It will lead perhaps to a compromise," Rummenigge said.
"I believe the participation of under-21 teams could be possible. The clubs would then be obliged to release their players without the Olympics becoming part of the match calendar."
In the dispute over the release of players for the Olympics, the court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne ruled in favour of the clubs. However players like Barcelona's Lionel Messi of Argentina, Werder Bremen's Diego and Schalke's Rafinha, both of Brazil, stayed in China for the tournament.
Although International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has suggested all age restrictions be lifted to allow the world's leading players to compete, Rummenigge said there would be absolutely no support for this from the clubs.
Blatter has also opposed any such moves for fear it would create a rival to the four-yearly World Cup. (dpa)
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